Ratapan 4:2

ב (Bet)

4:2 The precious sons of Zion

were worth their weight in gold –

Alas! – but now they are treated like ¹  broken clay pots,

made by a potter. ² 

Ratapan 4:13

מ (Mem)

4:13 But it happened ³  due to the sins of her prophets ⁴ 

and the iniquities of her priests,

who poured out in her midst

the blood of the righteous.

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “they are regarded as.”

[4:2]  ² tn Heb “the work of the hands of a potter.”

[4:13]  ³ tn These words do not appear in the Hebrew, but are supplied to make sense of the line. The introductory causal preposition מִן (min) (“because”) indicates that this phrase – or something like it – is implied through elision.

[4:13]  ⁴ tn There is no main verb in the verse; it is an extended prepositional phrase. One must either assume a verbal idea such as “But it happened due to…” or connect it to the following verses, which themselves are quite difficult. The former option was employed in the present translation.